Hizbullah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Kassem on Thursday said that revoking the two decisions by the unconstitutional government of Fouad Saniora was the natural entrance to political settlement. "The Cabinet's reversal of the two decisions is a natural step to return things to the way they were before the two decisions," Kassem said. "We want a political settlement that will lead, in the end, to there being no victor and no vanquished."
Speaking after meeting the Arab delegation visiting Lebanon since Wednesday, Sheikh Kassem reiterated that "if anyone believes he can benefit from international interference in imposing his conditions, he is wrong. We recognize the other party, and it must recognize us. We represent a large sector of the population, and the other party is also represented."
"We want to work hand in hand in order to build Lebanon," Hizbullah no. 2 stressed. "We want to return to settlement based on the no-winner-no-looser principle, where no one monopolizes decisions. We want cooperation in directing the country," he told journalists. "Beirut does not belong to a single faction, and we call for dropping the language of conflict in this phase, because we must act together. Let the people be the arbiter. This is a new phase to be governed by dialogue and agreement so that we may reach a solution. If the other party is willing to reach an acceptable settlement, Hezbollah and the opposition are also ready."
Sheikh Kassem stressed the Arab League would sponsor inter-Lebanese dialogue "that should be over the two remaining points of the Arab initiative: A national unity government and the electoral law." He reminded that the issue of the president is settled for as Army Commander General Michel Suleiman is still a consensus candidate. "The incidents occurred because of the government wrongly targeting the resistance, which should never happen again. They were a reaction to the government’s decisions. The resistance’s weapons are targeting Israel. It is not planning any internal military activity," Kassem added.
He also saluted the Lebanese army for its performance during the last few days, saying that it proved being "an institution that guarantees civil peace."
